Plans for new housing complexes move ahead

This artist's rendition shows a 216-unit apartment complex in Union Township called The Grove, featuring two- and three-bedroom units. It is to be built, pending local approval, near Isabella Road between Broomfield and Bluegrass roads by Campus Crest Inc. Courtesy Union Township.

At least one Union Township trustee appears highly skeptical of plans to build hundreds more bedrooms of student housing in the township.

Trustee Phil Mikus pointed to survey of township residents done as the township prepared its most recent master plan, and noted that more than four out of five residents surveyed opposed more student-type housing.

But that special use permit could be moot if the same board doesn’t change the zoning on the property near Isabella Road between Broomfield and Bluegrass roads. That question is to come before the board in early April.

That would appear to have the backing of many members of the township board.

“It’s the right place for it,” said trustee Bryan Mielke.

Campus Crest and New York-based Park7 Development both have proposed high-end complexes. The Park7 project would house about 700 students on what is now vacant land on Sweeney Street, west of the proposed Campus Crest project.

In addition, Copper Beech Townhomes plans to add another 10 buildings and 256 apartments this year.

The surprising eagerness for developers to sink millions of dollars into construction in mid-Michigan has raised concern among some people that the community could be headed for a glut of multi-family housing. But most township board members say they’d welcome the development.

“It’s not up to us to decide,” said trustee Roger Hauck. “It’s up to the market to decide.”

Township Treasurer Pam Stovak said the new complexes would improve the quality of student housing in Union Township.

“It will be a different niche of student housing,” she said.

Township zoning administrator Woody Woodruff pointed out that the land proposed for the projects currently is zoned for business. There has been little interest, however, in commercial development.

Attorney Gordon Bloem, representing Campus Crest, told the board that the impact on traffic and law enforcement would be much lower from a student housing complex than it would be if the land were developed commercially.

“We’re not going to have a big impact on traffic,” Bloem said. “This particular project, in this particular spot, with this particular management company, is a great fit.”

Campus Crest is the country’s second-largest operator of student housing, with more than 44,000 tenants. The largest operator is American Campus Communities, a publicly traded company that already is in the market, operating the nearby University Meadows complex on Bluegrass Road.

Woodruff said the plans call for some retail development along main road frontages, with the apartment complexes set back from the main roads.

A decision on the rezoning requests for both the Campus Crest and Park7 projects could come April 10.

Mark Ranzenberger is online editor of TheMorningSun.com. Follow him on Facebook at facebook.com/ranzenberger.